The Last to Know
by NekoNarutard666
Summary: Is Shikamaru breaking Temari's heart? Oneshot, songfic, Temari POV


A/N: Temari, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara belong to Masashi Kishimoto. "Don't Let Me Be The Last" is by Celine Dion therefore the lyrics belong to her. Also this story isn't character bashing nor couple bashing. Just felt like writing an angsty romantic story is all.

**The Last to Know**

_He's late…again_, thought Temari as she sat at the lonely kitchen table inside the apartment both she and Shikamaru signed a lease for, hoping to start an adventure that was their new lives together. Not a single call, not even a note left behind to testify why he was tardy to their one year anniversary, to the dinner she slaved over for the better part of the day in preparation for this joyous landmark in their lives. Perhaps he was just getting bored with her; she noticed the sideway glances at the pretty young genin and chunin in Konoha, but never paid one any mind. Until now.

_Let me be the first to say…_

_Ain't it always so?  
But there's no other way to find out  
What I need to know_

He's done this before, sporadically, in all fairness, and always with good reason. _Training ran a little over today._ Okay. _We had the most troublesome mission of rescuing some orange cat from a tree for a little old lady._ We've all been there. But three times this week he's been way past late with nothing but a frustrated huff and angry slashes as reason, never clearly stating why throughout. Temari feared the worse.

_It's not that I don't think you care  
It's what you haven't said  
That keeps me guessing day and night  
Putting visions in my head_

His best friend, Choji Akimichi, was recently cut down in the line of battle during a rescue mission, dying instantly. The loss took a lot out of him, so maybe that was why he always seemed so upset? At the funeral though, three weeks ago, he was reunited with an ex-girlfriend who meant a lot before the untimely parting of ways, Ino Yamanaka. For a good chunk of the time at the luncheon afterwards he kept both of his forest brown eyes on that blonde haired girl, as if she were to perform some astonishing trick and if he were to take his eyes off her for even one moment she would have showed her talent and vanish forever. Temari always figured there were still some underlying feelings for the girl; after all, from the stories Shikamaru had told her the two were once a serious item. It never occurred to her that they might just get back together. If that was the case indeed.

_Don't let me be the last  
If you thought of leaving would you tell me?  
Don't let me be the last  
If the truth would hurt me  
would you lie to me?_

Temari could remember old crushes of her own very well, and if a past flame were to suddenly come back to her life she would be shell shocked as well, not knowing what to do or how to act in the situation at hand. She supposes she couldn't blame Shikamaru if those feelings began to stir once more, but if they were to bubble over the pot to the point of no self control, that was another story. _What would I do without Shikamaru? He became such a comfortable part in my life that I honestly can't begin to imagine was my existence would come to should he leave me. I can't keep him locked up in my cage forever though…_

_Don't you keep it to  
yourself for my protection  
Break it to me now  
Don't let me be the last  
If there's anything you wanna tell me  
Don't let me be the last_

For the most part she gave up a lot in her life for him; to please him, and never thought twice about it. She left her homeland, her two remaining family members, the elements that once were very comfortable to her to come to this foreign land for him. Just for him. Her sacrifices though may seem insignificant to some stone hearted, meant a great deal to Temari. Here for just a little over a year in a half, the priceless memories created here could all be dashed away into oblivion by the words of her lover telling her it's time to part their own ways, just like before with Ino.

_Like you're never gonna let me go  
Baby, all I ask_

_Don't let me be the last to know_

She never cared for another human being in her life as she cared for a Shikamaru Nara. Sure, she's cared deeply for her younger brothers, her parents, and her friends, but this time around was much more different in every way. The first person she ever gave herself to, to make passionate love to was Shikamaru. The first person she ever let she her weak and down trotted was Shikamaru. The first person she let herself get close to, to risk her heart for with the chance of it breaking into a million micro sized pieces was Shikamaru. That chance of a heart shattering was about to come into full circle, Temari knew, in just a matter of hours with only a few words spoken.

_You know how all friends will talk  
A secret's hard to keep  
But this girl she says you're seeing  
Sure sounds a lot like me  
Still it's not for me to say  
If what I heard was true  
And I won't let myself believe a word  
Till I hear it from you_

_Temari, you're bigger than this, you're stronger than this_, she repeated to herself silently in the corners of her mind. _Don't let some man change your life for the worse!_

_Don't let me be the last  
If you thought of leaving would you tell me?  
Don't let me be the last_

_It's too late, though._

_If the truth would hurt me  
would you lie to me?  
Don't you keep it to  
yourself for my protection  
Break it to me now_

_You know that all too well Temari._

_Don't let me be the last  
If there's anything you wanna tell me_

_You gave your heart to him you idiot! There's no turning back!_

_Don't let me be the last_

She placed the palms of her semi-cupped hands over her ears; eyes shut fiercely, only a gentle opening to release a few sorrowful tears that raced down her cheeks, shoulders hunched upwards as if to protect herself from some strong winter gale force. Tears now turning into painful sobs at her idiotic mistake. For the entirety of her life she promised to never fall for any man this hard; never. If only she knew that at the modest age of twenty this would happened, she would have ran away at Shikamaru's first request for a evening of dinner and dancing, ran away never to look back. How could any creature overcome a pain this great? Was it even a possibility?

_Like you're never gonna let me  
go, don't let me go_

The front door opened to the dinner table with a spread of hours old and cold course laid upon it, Temari bringing herself together at a moment's notice once she heard his foot steps from down the hall. He turned to her and spoke: "Temari, we've got to talk…"

The smell of the foreign perfume emanating off his body was confirmation enough for what he was about to tell her. She looked down at her hands that were resting on her lap, one over the other, pathetically smiling down at them. "I'm listening Shikamaru…I'm listening…" He sat across from her, and told her everything she already knew all too well deep inside her heart. But it was much more painful to have it validated; to hear it escape his lips and enter her ears. Nothing last forever, she assumed, including love. Ino Yamanaka, someone who irked her from the days of the Chunin Exams now became an object of this crazy, mixed up world of love she envied the most. Funny how things turn out. One minute you're on top of the world, the next the rug from beneath your feet gets harshly yanked, to were you find yourself lying on your back with no one around to help you or comfort you. You can, at one moment, be surrounded by love and friendship, the feeling of loneliness nothing but a foreign concept, the next that loneliness becomes all too real, and it now surrounds you in the place of the warmth you once held dear. Such is life. The next day she gathered her belongings, the things that were her own and not what Shikamaru had bought her, and left that apartment that seemed to be filled with such high hopes and ambitions. She left without ever looking back, and without ever dismissing the times she had there in that tiny home, in that land known as Konohagakure, for when the world becomes cold and over bearing with hate, she'll look back at those very times, and she'll smile.

_Baby__, all I ask  
Don't let me be the last to know_

She was bound for her homeland, Sunagakure. At the very least she wasn't the last to know.


End file.
